~Winter Canning~

I held off as long as I could and then I just could't stand it any more. I had to get out my pots and pans, funnel, jar lifter, and jars.

To go along with our Thanksgiving dinner, I made cranberry sauce. I wasn't inclined to put it in a can so it would look commercial, so I just poured it into a serving dish and chilled it. It was very good and not only got compliments but was eaten all up (that's the proof your company is telling the truth ;-) ). The next week when I went to the store, cranberries were still a good price so I got two more bags and made up a recipe and a half to can.

And now I have four lovely jars of cranberry sauce. It's a bit of a novelty item to me, we never really eat a lot of cranberry sauce anyhow so I wouldn't want any more than this. Just the perfect amount to eat over this winter.

But even though it's the perfect amount, this is my thought on small batch canning: if I'm going to totally trash my kitchen for four jars of sauce (or jam, or whatever), I might as well go all out and get a whole canner load. Not that I wanted a whole canner load of cranberry sauce, but...look at all those dishes! I somehow managed to get many utensils, two pans, the Champion juicer parts (necessary for this project - to remove seeds and skins), and many other things covered in sauce! Ah, if only I were a neater cook!

So, that brings my jar count for this year to 344. I'm thinking of canning a few more things before the year's end, we'll see!